We open Raw with a recap of the history between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, building up tonight's match. This, incredibly enough, is Shawn's first singles match since Wrestlemania X, where he wrestled Razor Ramon. Raw is live from the Beeghly Center at Youngtown State University.
Vince "Not Guilty" McMahon is back on commentary, which is a damn shame since I enjoyed the hell out of the weeks we had Jim Ross. Speaking of which, he's been fired again! Only this time it had less to do with his palsy and more to do with him leaking inside info to journalists. Naughty sooner. Naughty, naughty. Ross will be rehired by the end of '94.
Opening action tonight is "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels taking on Razor Ramon. The intercontinental champ Diesel is in the corner of HBK as expected. Both men avoid each other's offense until Razor gets in a right hand and a hard whip, sending Michaels flopping out of the ring. Michaels tries to get in the ring, but gets a right each time. He eventually gets a thumb to the eye and rams Razor's head on the buckle. He goes off the buckle, but gets caught with a right. Shawn turns things around with a neckbreaker. Michaels tries a springboard cross body but gets caught into a fallaway slam for two.
Razor reverses a whip, but Shawn leapfrogs and gets in some rights. Shawn hits a big dropkick for two. He lays in a few jabs and a roundhouse to the jaw. Diesel gets in a cheap choke on the rope while Michaels distracts the ref. Razor is locked in a side headlock. Razor breaks free, and turns a hiptoss into a backslide for two. Michaels pops up fast with a clothesline for two. Shawn reapplies the headlock, but Razor breaks out, catches Shawn and catapults him into Diesel.
When we return from break, Shawn sends Razor head first into the buckle. He goes up top, but gets caught and tossed off. Razor locks in an abodominal stretch, but gets a thumb to the eye blatantly in front of the ref. Elbows to the back of the head from Michaels, but he gets caught with a facebuster. Razor follows with a big back body drop. He follows with a bearhug. Michaels breaks out with some elbows to the back of the head. He tries a body slam, but it hurts him, causing him to be put right back into the bearhug. Michaels turns it around into a sunset flip, but Razor falls on him for two, which Michaels turns into a roll up for two. Razor hits a clothesline but only gets two.
Shoulder block by Razor. He tries a second, but he ends up being tossed out of the ring. With the ref distracted, Diesel gets in a clothesline on the outside. Michaels props Razor on the apron and lands an axe handle. He gets in several jabs in the corner. Razor gets some more rights but gets locked in a sleeper by Shawn. This sets up the arm drop spot, which Razor gets his arm up at the third drop and breaks free with a back suplex. Shawn whips Razor, but gets a big boot from Razor as both men collapse. Another whip from Shawn, but Razor collides into him, sending both men down again.
Razor lands several more rights, a hard whip to the corner and another clothesline for two. He sets up Shawn in the corner and goes for the back superplex. Shawn gets in a moonsault, but Razor turns it around for two. Superkick from Shawn who covers for two. Shawn tries again for the Razor's Edge, but he gets back dropped instead. Razor sets up for the Razor's Edge, but goes after Diesel in the corner. Shawn grabs the belt, misses, and gets back dropped. Shawn whips Razor into a waiting boot from Diesel, rolls up Razor and gets the three.
An excellent match, albeit maybe a bit too long, clocking in at just around 23 minutes. It's good to have Michaels back as he offers some great unique offense. Both men held their own in the ring and while the match wasn't more about crazy moves or technical prowess, it worked well as a brawl, which makes sense considering the long feud between the two men. Plenty of near falls and big moves when they mattered. Overall, a very solid outing by both competitors.
Post-match, Shawn and Diesel continue to double team Razor with elbows and stomps. Officials try to intervene, but Diesel chases them off. Eventually, there's far too many in the ring for the duo to continue their beating.
Todd Pettengill is here with the Summerslam Report. The card is starting to really fill up at this point. Right now we have:
Undertaker vs Undertaker
Bret Hart vs Owen Hart in a steel cage match for the WWF Championship
Razor Ramon vs Diesel for the Intercontinental Championship
And recently added has been Lex Luger vs Tatanka. Pettengill tries to claim that Tatanka is one of the most popular stars in the company. How he said that will a straight face is beyond me.
Up next, it's Alundra Blayze vs Bull Nakano (With Luna in her corner) in a non-title match. Nakano had made a name for herself in Japan wrestling since she was 15 and winning multiple women's championships for the All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling promotion. She had a brief run with the WWF in 1986, but has been brought back to the company to play a main heel antagonist for champion Alundra Blayze.
Nakano sends Blayze into the ropes and lands a clothesline. Blayze ducks a clothesline and hits several kicks, however Nakano gets a pair of massive hair pulls sending Blayze flying around the ring. Blayze gets a hurricanrana for a two count. Spin kick by Blayze, but Nakano ducks a second and hits a set of hard clothesline and another set of hair pull slams. Vince tries to make a Mask reference in reference to Nakano's look, but goes for the Jim Carrey movie and not the low ball Rocky Dennis reference.
Nakano locks in a chinlock to Blayze and just shakes the crap out of her. She hits in a hard chop and a choke in the ropes. She drops a big piledriver and nonchalantly covers Blayze for two. She lands a a powerbomb, but Blayze kicks out at two. She tries agai, but Blayze manages a sunset flip for two. Blayze tries a dropkick, but misses as Nakano hits a body slam. She goes up top but misses a massive leg drop. German suplex from Alundra Blayze, but Nakano kicks out. She tries a second, but Nakano reverses, but Blayze rolls her up for two. Nakano tosses Blayze off the top and goes up herself. Blayze knocks her off to the outside and lands a flying press to the outside.
Nakano sends Blayze face first into the steel ring post as both women brawl outside to a double count out. Blayze gets back in the ring, but Luna gets in a cheap shot. Blayze whips Luna into Nakano, sending both women in retreat.
I loved the hell out of this match. Hard hitting from start to finish. With how underplayed the women's division has been at this point, seeing an impressive display of big power moves and high flying prowess from both athletes is impressive. I don't even mind the double count out finish as it simply means there's more to come with both ladies. And if what's to come is half as good as this, we're in for a real treat.
It's time for the King's Court. Much like a lack of Vince, it was actually refreshing to not have Lawler involved with the show. Lawler goes into the crowd to a couple as a man proposes to her. Lawler tells the woman to wait as we go to break. When we return, he brings her to the ring to answer the question. She says yes to the proposal which follows with Lawler going straight into mocking their looks.
Lawler's actual guest this week is Bob Backlund. On the previous edition of Superstars, Backlund had faced Bret Hart for the WWF title in a match that is definitely worth going out of your way to watch as it's an amazing back and forth affair. After Bret got the victory however, Backlund would attack him, locking him in the crossface chicken wing. Backlund says that throughout his tenure as champion and in his time off, he tried to benefit the fans, but the fans have changed in the last ten years, and he's dissappointed with how weak they are. He never gave up and never submitted. He claims to be the real champ. Bret is part of a society that he hates because there's a right and wrong in this world and people have to pay the price. Backlund is a raving psycho and it's only going to get better from here.
We end Raw with the Smoking Gunns vs George Anderson and Tom Bennett. Billy gets a drop toe hold to Anderson and tags in Bart who lands a body slam. Whip to Billy as both men land a double side russian leg sweep. Billy drops a knee as we go to break. When we return it's a dropkick from Billy. Bart and Billy land the sidewinder to finish this match super quick and super abruptly. Well, at least it wasn't an Undertaker/Skinner situation.
This was a pretty good edition of Raw. Not a lot of boring squashes or filler. Everything pretty much had a purpose to it (save for the Gunns match). Razor and Shawn put in nearly a half hour's worth of action in a great match that further's their long standing rivalry. Bull Nakano and Alundra Blayze impress with a brawl that feels fresh and unique, plus we're starting to slowly get psycho Bob Backlund, one of my favorite characters ever. There's a lot to this show worth coming back to and enjoying. Though having Vince back and sucking the life out of commentary is a bit of a drag. This Raw gets a A rating.
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